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Pakistan begins peace talks with Taliban

SCOTT BEVAN: Pakistan's prime minister says his government has started talks with the Pakistani Taliban. The news came out of a meeting between prime minister Nawaz Sharif and the British deputy PM Nick Clegg.

The Taliban has been waging a campaign of terror across Pakistan, killing thousands of people, and many are sceptical whether the militants are genuine about peace.

South Asia correspondent Michael Edwards reports.

MICHAEL EDWARDS: It was during a meeting in London that Pakistan's prime minister Nawaz Sharif told the British deputy prime minister, Nick Clegg, that a 'dialogue' has been started with the Pakistani Taliban.

The Pakistani High Commission in London later confirmed the comments.

ALI DYAN HASAN: When you say that the government of Pakistan will hold a dialogue with the Taliban, who is it that you are precisely talking about?

ALI DYAN HASAN: There are dozens of groups and factions that operate under the umbrella of the Taliban and while the government of Pakistan may succeed in bringing some of them to the table and succeed in getting some of them to renounce violence, it has been made quite clear by other factions that they do not intend to renounce violence until they have either taken over the Pakistani state or destroyed it.

MICHAEL EDWARDS: Last month, the Taliban's main leader, Hakimullah Mehsud, gave a rare interview to the BBC from a secret location in Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas.

He said he was open to peace talks but only on his terms - and they were that the government hand over full control of the tribal areas to the Taliban.

HAKIMULLAH MEHSUD (translated): We believe in serious talks, but the government has taken no steps to approach us. The government needs to sit with us, then we'll present our conditions.

MICHAEL EDWARDS: The Taliban operates largely with impunity from within the tribal areas. This year alone hundreds have been killed in attacks across Pakistan, especially during the election period in May.

The government often talks tough about stopping terrorism, but the last time it acted with any real seriousness came in 2009 when it sent the army into the tribal areas.

When he was elected Nawaz Sharif announced he'd seek peace talks with the Taliban.

Ali Dayan Hasan says groups as brutal as the Taliban should not be allowed to get away with the crimes they've committed purely in the name of peace.

ALI DAYAN HASAN: The point is that a confidence-building situation requires at the very least, a cessation of hostilities. But the fact of the matter is that there is no cessation of hostilities. In fact, violence has this year ratcheted up, and has become increasingly bloody and serious.

MICHAEL EDWARDS: Pakistan might be at war with its own Taliban but it is the main supporter of the Afghan Taliban.

The other purpose of prime minister Sharif's visit to London was to hold talks with Afghanistan's president Hamid Karzai - these were also aimed at bringing the Afghan Taliban to the negotiating table.